It said that after more than a year of joint work between Palestinian and South African organizations, South Africa’s Minister of Trade and Industry Rob Davies announced he will forbid false and misleading labeling of settlements products.

He said that the South African government will forbid the misleading labeling of products originating in the Jewish settlements in the occupied territory as if they were produced in Israel.

“Consumers in South Africa should not be misled into believing that products originating from the occupied Palestinian territory are products originating from Israel,' said a ministry statement.

“The burden of proving where the products originate will lie with traders,” a step that will further trample attempts to obscure the origin or connection to settlements of some Israeli products.

According to the statement, the government of South Africa recognizes the State of Israel only within the 1948 borders, which do not include Palestinian territories occupied in 1967.

The announcement was the result of efforts invested in the matter for the past year by South African organizations, Open Shuhada Street and Lawyers for Human Rights, together with the Popular Struggle Coordination Committee.

Mohammed Khatib, a resident of the West Bank village of Bilin and the coordinator of the Popular Struggle Coordination Committee who was involved in the efforts to promote the notice, said, “The notice is based on the recognition of the injustice done to us Palestinians by the occupation and Israeli settlements. It highlights the fact that the de-facto annexation of our lands as well as the settlements themselves are entirely illegal. The notice is an important first step, which, reason suggests, should be followed by a complete ban on the marketing of these products in South Africa, no matter how they are labeled.”